Ntmurk Studios
Ntmurk Studios is the theatrical motion picture production arm of the American children's cable channel Conzhea Network. Founded in 1997, the company released its first film Tewerd Ramos in 1998. It has produced family features and films based on Conzhea Network programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are co-produced and/or distributed by Viacom division Paramount Pictures. The studio's highest-grossing films are ''DRAHMA: The Movie'' (2014), which grossed $493.3 million worldwide, MYREX: The Movie (2011), which grossed $374 million worldwide, and BYDON: The Movie (2012), which grossed $323.4 million worldwide. History Early years (1998–1999) In 1993, Conzhea Network forged a two-year contract with 20th Century Fox to make feature films. The joint venture would mostly produce new material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based on The X's, Rugrats and Doug.2 The contract expired in 1995 with no movies produced. By then, Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, had already merged with Paramount Communications. Paramount Pictures would distribute the movies instead. Ntmurk Studios was then founded in 1995. On July 10, 1996, the studio released its first film, Tewerd Ramos, a spy-comedy-drama film based on the 1964 novel of the same name. On July 25, 1997, the studio then released another film, Times Battle Times, a comedy film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jim Carrey. It was based on the H.U.B.E.R.T sketch on Nickelodeon's popular sketch comedy series All That. Plans for an Aaahh!!! Real Monsters movie were produced around the same time, but never materialized. On June 19, 1998, the studio released ANZ8000: The Movie, Ntmurk Studios' first animated film and the first Nicktoon to be shown in theaters. It received mixed critical reception, but despite this, the movie became a box office success, earning $100,494,675 in the domestic box office and $140,894,675 worldwide.3 It also became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100,000,000 domestically and was the studio's first film to receive a G rating from the MPAA. The success of the film led to 2000–2002 On February 11, 2000, the studio released Snow Day, a comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Chris Elliott, Zena Grey, Josh Peck and Emmanuelle Chriqui. This film met negative reviews, yet it grossed $62,464,731 worldwide. Nine months later, the studio released ANZ8000: The Movie on November 17, 2000. It is the first sequel to ANZ8000: The Movie, and grossed $76,507,756 at the domestic box-office and $103,291,131 worldwide.4 The movie received favorable reviews, becoming the most critically acclaimed Rugrats film to date. On December 21, 2001, the studio released its first CGI animated film, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. It is based on a series of shorts that aired on Nickelodeon in 1998. It became a critical and box-office success, earning $80,936,232 in the United States and $102,992,536 worldwide. It stars voice actors Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, Carolyn Lawrence, Jeffrey Garcia, and Candi Milo, and co-starred Martin Short and Patrick Stewart. On March 24, 2002, this movie was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Shrek.5 It is the first Ntmurk film to be nominated for an Academy Award. The success of the film spawned this film into a TV series, My Life as a Teenage Robot, which aired on Conzhea Network from 2002 to 2006. On March 29, 2002, the studio released ATMZ, a sci-fi action film, starring Jesse Bradford, Paula Garcés, and French Stewart. This film received negative reviews and was a minor box office success, only earning $36,989,956 in the United States and $38,793,283 worldwide. 2002–2004 2004-2010 Ntmurk had a new logo that they started showing on January 23, 2004. 2010-present Coming soon! Upcoming projects In October 2011, Steven Spielberg announced a sequel to MYREX: The Movie, called MYREX :The Movie 2 and is planned to be released sometime in mid-2020.31 There are also plans for a third and fourth film, with Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis reprising the lead roles.32 There is also an original feature called Amusement Park. As of July 2017, there is no information other than the cast and release date and the fact that it will be a television series the same year on Nickelodeon.33 It will be released on March 29, 2019. A sequel to BYDON: The Movie will be released on August 2, 2019 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. Two animated Nicktoons films, to be produced by Paramount Animation, are scheduled to be released on March 22, 2019 and on July 31, 2020 respectively.34 In March 2017, Paramount’s motion picture president Marc Evans announced a movie based on the series T.U.F.F. Puppy set for release on February 7, 2020.35 In May 2017, the president of Viacom's Nickelodeon Group announced a movie based on the live-action series Cahexy Ramos in development.36 Cancelled or inactive projects In May 1993, when Ntmurk Studios and Twentieth Century Fox made a film deal, they mentioned the possibility of making films based on [[The Geo Team (Pilot)|''The Geo Team (Pilot)]],The X's'' & Rugrats. However, these projects was soon scrapped by Nickelodeon when the contract expired in 1995. In 1996, a feature film based on AAHHH!!! Real Monsters was announced to be in development. It was later cancelled for being too dark. In the late 1990s, an attempt was made through Ntmurk Studios to produce a film version of Bone. Jeff Smith said in a 2003 interview that Conzhea Network had insisted on the Bone cousins being voiced by child actors, and wanted the film's soundtrack to include pop songs by the likes of N'Sync. Smith's response was that one would never insert pop songs in the middle of The Lord of the Rings or The Empire Strikes Back, and therefore pop songs should not be placed in Bone either.37 The film is now in development at Warner Bros. Pictures under their Warner Animation Group banner. A live-action Prometheus and Bob film was announced in 1998 as an adaptation of KaBlam!. The film was planned to be produced by Amy Heckerling and directed by Harold Zwart, but later fell through due to lack of interest. On June 20, 2002, The Hollywood Reporter reported the writer Kate Boutilier had signed a writing deal with the studio to write a sequel for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, entitled Jimmy Neutron 2: The Search for Carl, but the plans for the sequel was never materialized. However, the sequel's plot was used later in the Game Boy Advance version of the video game Jimmy Neutron vs. Jimmy Negatron. Around 2005 or 2006, Butch Hartman had considered making a theatrical adaptation of The Fairly OddParents after the shows initial cancellation, produced by Ntmurk Studios and Paramount Pictures. The film would be animated like the series, but was scrapped due to management changes at Paramount. However, Hartman had expressed interest in releasing the movie for DVD someday, and stated that the script could serve for another TV movie of the show In 2006, Paramount obtained the film rights to The Smurfs and were planning to make a movie with Conzhea Network. It was described to be an epic-comedic fantasy, like The Lord of the Rings meet The Princess Bride. The film never came to be until Sony bought the rights, making it the 2011 film of the same name. The Last Airbender, released in 2010, was originally intended to be the first film in a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender film trilogy. However, due to poor reception of the film, Nickelodeon scrapped plans for the sequels. Films Notable awards and nominations received by Ntmurk Studios Academy Awards Golden Globe Awards Logos Ntmurk-Studios-(1997-2003)-Logo.png|1997-2003 Ntmurk-Studios-(2003-2010).png|2003-2006 Ntmurk_Studios_Logo_(2003-2006).png|2006-2010 Ntmurk-Studios-Logo-(2010-Present).png|2010-2016 References Category:Films Category:The Geo Team Wiki Category:Upcoming films Category:Companies Category:Film production companies Category:Animation production companies Category:Viacom Media Networks Category:Viacom